LH11a
Practice - Ratios
TRY TO ANSWER IN TWO AND A HALF MINUTES.
QUESTIONS
QUESTIONS
1. One-third of the students in a class have not yet studied geometry. The class has 24 students. What is the ratio of students who have studied geometry to those who haven't?
2. If 48 percent of the voters in a state are Democrats and the rest are Republicans, what is the ratio of Republicans to Democrats?
3. For every person who receives Social Security benefits, there are three persons who pay Social Security taxes. What is the ratio of taxpayers to beneficiaries?
4. In a two-person election one candidate gets 1/6 of the votes cast. What is the ratio of the votes for the winning candidate to the votes for the losing candidate?
5. If the ratio of men to women in an office is 2:7, what is the fraction of men in the office?
ANSWERS
1. Eight have not studied geometry, so 16 have. The ratio is 16:8, which simplifies to 2:1. This ratio can also be written as 2/1.
2. Republicans have 100% - 48% = 52%. For every 52 Republicans there are 48 Democrats, a ratio of 52/48, which simplifies to 13/12 or 13:12.
3. Three to one, or 3:1 or 3/1.
4. The winning candidate gets five votes for every vote for the losing candidate. So the ratio is 5:1 or 5/1. Notice that the answer is 5:1 rather than 6:1, because it is the ratio of the winner to the loser, not the ratio of the winner to the total votes.
5. The answer is not 2/7, the ratio of men to women. It is 2/9, which is the ratio of men to total workers.